"They are bringing it through an ordinance. It is just a political gimmick in hurry," he said.

Expressing surprise at why the government took the ordinance route instead of discussing the "serious Bill" in Parliament, Singh said, "The Congress-led UPA is taking populist measures. The Food Security Bill is one of them."

"This Bill has some lacunae. We want to pass it with some modifications. We want a debate on this," he said.

The ordinance on food security gives the country's two-third population the right to get 5 kg of foodgrains every month at highly subsidized rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.

Ordinance on Food Bill shows contempt of Parliament: CPI-M

The CPI-M on Thursday slammed the government for adopting the ordinance route for the Food Security Bill, saying the move showed contempt of Parliament and was anti-democratic.

"The ordinance route shows contempt of Parliament and is anti-democratic," the party said in a statement. It added that the Central government should have given utmost priority to the bill, however, it failed to bring in a proper legislation for nearly four years for the consideration of Parliament.

The CPI-M expressed strong disagreement with the government over "the insincere manner" in which the legislation was handled. "The CPI-M will raise these objections and push for amendments to the bill when it comes up in the Parliament," the statement said.